


Malleus Maleficarum

by A_Farnese



Series: Penumbra- Missing Scenes [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Elyan breaks something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 13:45:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4223925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Farnese/pseuds/A_Farnese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After their return from Blackheath, Arthur asks Elyan for a favor- to destroy the thing that nearly destroyed Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Malleus Maleficarum

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Merlin and its characters are not mine. No money is being made from this.

The hammer slammed home against the anvil, the force of it shivering up Elyan's arm and into his shoulder, ringing through his head like a bell. He brought the hammer up again, reveling in the stretch of muscle and bone, glad to finally be using his strength to accomplish something useful. He struck the lump of metal again, his mind's eye seeing a different fire in the iron's red glow, and he raised the hammer up once more, striking the metal again and again and again, as though he could stamp out the memory with a hammerstrike, repeating the motion over and over, sending sparks flying, until a stronger hand caught his arm on the upswing.

"Elyan! Stop." Percival held his arm in place until Elyan blinked up at him, his breathing slowing. "You've destroyed it. No need to wreck the hammer, too. Or yourself."

Elyan looked down at the flattened lump on the anvil. It was well and truly wrecked, blackened and cracked, melted and beaten into a useless shape, never to be used for anything again. " _Destroy this,_ " Arthur had told him when he handed Elyan the bag with three slender, curving bits of iron. It had taken a moment for him to realize what it was- the collar that had been around Merlin's neck, keeping him from his magic.

He lowered the hammer and set it aside, shrugging off Percival's hand as he stepped over to the bucket of water by the far wall. He splashed some over his face to wash away the soot and the sweat, then took a long drink. The water was cold and fresh, with bits of ice floating in it. Percival must have brought it in with him. "I still hear him screaming in my dreams. Nightmares. I'll never forget it." Elyan shivered. "I can see his face, how he looked when they brought them out to-" he couldn't finish, and shook his head. "I hardly recognized him. Why? Why do that? What purpose did it serve?"

"It didn't," Percival answered simply. "They didn't do it to serve any purpose. Evil men don't need a reason to be cruel. If they did, Merlin might be whole right now, and I'd still have my family. What we have to do is keep them at bay, keep them from hurting innocent people." He reached for a set of tongs and took the cooling lump of metal from the anvil and regarded it for a while. "We'll toss this in a river next time we're out on patrol. Someday, it'll turn to rust and there will be nothing left of it."

"And what do we do in the meantime?" Elyan asked.

Percival put the iron lump down and put the tongs away. "In the meantime? We follow Arthur, and someday Morgana will try something like this again. When that happens, we'll make her pay. For what she did to Merlin, and for everything else she's done. We swore an oath to keep Camelot safe, and that's what we're going to do. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Elyan clasped Percival's hand, binding their oath as well as anything. "Someday, we'll repay Morgana for everything she's done."


End file.
